One Last Dawn
by OfMelodiesUnsung
Summary: Cursed with Future Visions and a Brutal Burden, Dawn embarks on a momentous Journey that will both break her and rebuild her. With humanity hanging by a thread, she may be one of the only glimmers of hope for the all but lost third kingdom.
1. Unforgotten Memories

**Unforgotten Memories.**

* * *

In all her years, not once did she question her _gift_ not once had she regretted being born into a family of Incredible powers, ones to see futures, a sight like none other. Until the moment she saw _it_, the burning of her world, the screams of her people and the roars of war, one humanity had never asked for, nor deserved.

It was as if she was there, in that moment. Standing within a hair's breadth away from a Goliath monstrosity, as it snagged a flying angel by its wings and tore them right off its back like tearing paper. How it never saw her she would never know, and in her shocked state, she doubted she'd care.

The stomping of approaching footsteps managed to snap her out of her shock, twirling around on her feet she came to the sight of a terrifyingly tall man. His armour was otherworldly, a hood covering most his features, long white hair and astonishingly bright _glowing_ blue eyes peaked from the hood. He bared with him a enormous blade, one easily twice her size, etched with horrific and terrifying faces.

Among the distant cry's and roars of battle, one voice stood out from the rest. "Impossible…" an angel hovering above, his armour was different to the others. _A commander? General perhaps? _She did not know.

"Abaddon…" the man from earlier spoke, he expression was stoic but his voice held genuine confusion. "What is this? Where are my brothers?"

"This cannot be. The… Final Seal…" Before the hovering angel could finish his sentence a winged demon swooped down, grasping the angel by his arm. he was quick to react, but the creature proved to have a strong hold.

"My Lord!" a feminine voice cried. the form of another angel dived down dispatching the demon upon Abaddon, with great precision.

"... How... did this happen...?" Abaddon questioned, clenching his fists in anger. _what…?_ she thought. But before she could continue to dissect Abaddon's reaction, a hand reached out and grabbed the hovering angel within, the distant cry of the female angel was blocked out as she fell into shock once again, as if her chest being constricted she found her breath abandon her, and a heavy feeling began to settle upon her. She watched the man battle the Colossal beast but she struggled to comprehend what was going on, everything seemed to go in slow motion, even as the man was crushed under the weight of the beasts hands.

And as quick as it came, it had faded. Now left sprawled upon on her bedroom floor, tears rolling from her eyes and form trembling did she understand.

* * *

It has been several years since that terrifying night, and to say I've been the same since would be a lie. Only a few minutes after that nightmare of a vision my parents had passed away in a car accident. The details were unclear, they say the lost control of their vehicle, as if they let go of the steering wheel and push the accelerator to the floor, they were saying they fell asleep at the wheel, but i suppose i knew better. For myself only to get that warning, that _vision _would be a stretch, an event so ghastly would send any Oracle into a trance.

As of now, I live with my foster-mother, we weren't very large as a family, and only my father had the ability to see, mother ultimately never knew. This made it so much harder, but I suppose it also puts me at peace somewhat, to know they went out fast and not to be tormented by some foul creature with a horribly sick sense of humor. And to say I did not heed that warning would be a lie as well, under the guise of mourning for my parents death and the want to occupy myself besides schooling I began all sorts of training, namely Archery, fencing, martial arts, many survival classes and first aid training. It became apparent that I wasn't good at close range combat, my talent was for the bow, being able to shoot targets in quick bursts and able to snipe targets from long range, but do not mistake me I can fight in close quarters well.

Despite me being already awake, the sound of my 10 o'clock alarm managed to pull me out of my thoughts, hauling myself out of bed and wondering to the bathroom to turn the tap on I took a moment to stare at my reflection. I doubt i'm anything special just a normal looking eighteen year old getting ready for her work at a pizza place. Average, but not _Stunning_. I had dull blue-grey eyes, brown-black hair and boring shaped face, no high cheekbones or dazzlingly full lips. just, average.

while in the mists of my daily morning routine I heard the distant voice of my Foster-Mother called for me. She was a dear old lady named 'Margaret' her husband had passed away around the same time my parents did. And her heart of gold couldn't let me be on my own in some 'nasty old foster home' as she said it.

Walking downstairs to meet her in the kitchen she turned back to me with a huge smile on her face. "I'm ever so proud of you my dear, you really don't have to pay for all this" Margaret had not much left of her retirement savings left, she had spent so much on me and despite that she still insisted on letting me stay without paying any rent, but as usual I disregarded it and payed anyway. But what had her in this current mood set was the dazzling set of new china tea cups for her use. It was a set Margaret had her eyes on for a long time, but she was never able to afford the golden rimmed tea set.

"Happy birthday Margaret, how old are you now? 60? _70?_" I teased lightheartedly, avoiding the topic entirely as I weaved by the bewildered woman, dropping down by the pantry to retrieve the bread and butter.

"_58_ thank you very much!" Margaret retorted bemusedly as she held the tea set in her arms. "They must have costed an arm and a leg! That's far too much for me" she turned her gaze back to me.

"Hardly, was I ever too much for you?" turning back towards her and giving her my fullest attention, despite my now cooling toast.

Margaret merely swatted me away from my toast, finishing to the the task herself. "Of course not! Your a life!"

"And you're not?" Raising an eyebrow I continued. "Besides, you're the one who said to _me_ that birthdays are days to be spoiled"

Margaret sighed in defeat, shaking her head before smiling back. "Always using my words against me, witty little thing." she handed me my buttered toast before beginning to fuss over my hair.

"Margaret, my hairs fine. It's _your_ birthday, not mine." Side-stepping away from the motherly woman and placing the plate on the table, allowing me to rest a free hand on her shoulder. "Besides, i've already planned the day we leave in Thirty"

Margaret's shocked face was priceless and she scrambled up the stairs shouting back something about not telling her sooner. Shaking my head and retrieving my plate I wondered out to the lounge room. Snatching up the remote off the couch before sitting down myself, tuning the Television onto the news channel.

" -A perfect day for some daily sports, speaking of which, here's tony with the sports report."

"Dawn! Where is my handbag again?" Margaret's voice called from upstairs along with the sound of frantic footsteps.

" -it seems the captain for the local Soccer team has gone under investigation for allowing his player to use empowering drugs-"

"It's by the door all ready to go. Fifteen minutes," the sounds of footfall only began to quicken at the response, the feeling of smirk pulling was hard to resist.

"-Breaking news!-"

"Alright…" Margaret started, arm resting on the back of the chair, huffing. "I'm ready…!"

"Fantastic, lets go!" Clasping my hands together and getting up, placing the empty plate on the table and grabbing the two respective bags from the front door, along with the keys on the hooks besides the door.

"Dawn, where on earth are we going?" Margaret asked, face lighting up with wry curiosity.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," I winked, before realizing I'd left the television on.

"-Meteor shower-"

"Click!" the sound of the remote cut off the televisions report, shrugging it off. _It's just some rocks after all._


	2. These Years that's Passed

**These years that's passed.**

* * *

The Honking of horns and angry shouts were all but muffled by the car both myself and Margaret sat in. the problem with living in a city was the god-awful traffic and today seemed like a particularly _terrible _day, in every sense of the word.

"I'm so sorry Margaret-" I began, but Margaret was quick to cut me off.

"Don't you start! This isn't your fault, you've done enough for little old me as it is." she seemed to shuffle more-so into her seat, as if to get more comfortable, even she thought we'd be here a while.

"Finally admitting your old now?" tearing my gaze off the snail-paced traffic to the woman seated besides me was worth the little tease, her face was contorted in a fairly disgusted matter.

"Not literally!" Margaret let out a large huff after catching me giggling at her expense. Granted, she walked right into that. Comfortable silence filled the car once more.

"RUN!" a man who had passed our car shouted but didn't pause. Confusion crossed both our features as I opened the door to assess what the commotion was about.

"Everybody get out of here!"

"It's going to kill Ronan!"

"What is that thing!?"

Many more voices and screams alike filled the air, in one moment everyone was pushing and panicking to get out the way, car doors being swung open and hoards of people making a break for the buildings and further down the streets. Turning to see Margaret had also gotten out of the car i dashed over to her, gently grasping her hand and running down the leading streets to our house which happened to be only a few blocks down from where they had been stuck in traffic.

"Dawn, did you see what's going on?" Despite knowing Margaret to be a strong individual who quite often stands up for those who can't, it was unnerving to hear her voice weaver with fear.

"No idea, but something in my guts telling me we need to get back, now!" I continued on, only slowing to allow Margaret some breaths before pushing on towards the house. The sounds of screams and cries of agony grew closer and closer from both behind and in front, causing the hair on the back of my neck to raise in a bone chilling sense.

"Margaret, as soon as we get inside I need you to grab the pack under my bed" Margaret threw me a confused look. "Please, just do as I say, I need you to trust me."

Once i received the nod of approval I continued inside, dashing into the side room situated under the stairs, the dusty and ill-used room barely lit up by the hanging light was the storage room of most belongings too large or cumbersome to keep in our rooms and served as a nice spot to keep my bow and abundance of arrows from archery, as well as my sword, still as sharp as ever despite its age.

The hanging light above shook as frantic footfalls crossed the stairs. Margaret poked her head into the side room, "you want to let me know why you wanted me to get these- why do you need them?" Margaret's confusion was a clear as day, as was her fear.

"Margaret, there's something I haven't told you before, I thought if I did you'd think-"

_Crash, bang_.

Cut short as the form of some beast like demon stalked forth, on all fours like some kind of rabid dog, except lacking its fur and in place scales, horns, sharp teeth and spikes all along its back. It took a few seconds before instincts kicked in and I shoved Margaret back into the small storage room and ripped an arrow from my quiver, knocking it onto the bow and launching it at the creature.

Arrow striking true, but the victory was short lived as it only seemed to fuel the creatures anger. Launching another arrow and this time aiming for the head, The creature - now embedded with two arrows - gargled and choked, finally falling dead.

Heart pounding and breaths ragged, finally getting a few seconds to pull myself together, turning to look at Margaret and checking if she was okay. The elder woman was quiet, and shaking with fear but she managed a small nod. Reaching down to gather the other items necessary for our survival was when i noticed my hands. Trembling and sweaty, the ordeal had placed both of us in shock. And I was unsure if we could continue to survive if my vision is our truth.

Strapping the bag on and slinging the quiver over my shoulder, sheathing the ragged sword and a quick inventory check later was when I finally gather the courage to look out the windows. It was as I had feared, the streets were covered in beasts and creatures alike, ravenous for human blood. Angels afloat, not batting an eye at any human that perishes, their sights focused on more creatures to slay. Crashed cars and fires littered the streets along with cries and screams, pleas for help and mercy, and none answered.

"W-we can't stay here… what if they know we're already here…" Margaret's shaky voice finally reached my ears, turning to the Elder I simply nodded, deep in thought.

"We'll have to avoid the ground. It seems like the _'Angels' _don't care too much about humans, I guess from there we can try and navigate from rooftop to rooftop if need be. We'll probably want somewhere high up, a place not so easily accessible but with enough vantage to have an over-watch of the situation.." Thoughts riddled my head as I scrapped my brain for an ideal place.

"The building behind us has an exterior access way, we could use that to get up and then cross over to the next lot of building b-by rooftop…although that means we have to enter into the alleyway besides us." Margaret suggested. Nodding my head it was the best course of action in the situation.

"We best move now, with all the chaos outside, it'll be easier to slip by… as grim as it is." Turning to see Margaret's sullen faces was almost heartbreaking. Margaret always gave help to those in need if she could, abandoning those morals in need of survival would weigh heavy on her. "Margaret, there's nothing that can be done.."

"I know… I just… it's a horrible feeling, to be helpless, to know there's absolutely nothing you can do, no matter what…" Margaret closed her eyes, clenching her fists on her shirt before taking a deep sigh. "I'll...I'll be right behind you"

That was all I needed, turning to the front door and exiting via the complexes stairs, we made our way to the ally-way, and as guessed, chaos was putting it lightly. People scrambled to get out of the crossfire that was the battlefield, demons and angels clashing it out on the street, no regard to their destruction.

Shaking my head to rid me of these thoughts I focused on everything around us, careful to make it to the building exterior entry and quickly climbing up, helping Margaret when need be. Luck has been on their side, the rooftop was clear, it was now or never. Making a mad dash to the intended area, and quickly using everything at their disposal to barricade themselves in.

"We made it." Margaret huffed in quiet victory. But it was short lived. Walking towards the window I peaked out, a few streets down I saw _that_ man, red hood and Goliath sword. Taking a few steps back from the window, adrenaline fading and shock filling in the void. _Oh god… It's real…_ and like that the reverie was broken. left in a speechless shock, thoughts had abandoned me, except one that screamed _what now?_

* * *

_November 16th 2018._

_Entry__ #312_

_It's been a week since we came across Remus, Lindsay and her fifteen year old daughter Megan. Lindsay had told me that Remus had been an old family friend of hers. The old Hunter had apparently passed them in the outskirts of town about eight years ago, exactly when the attack happened. It's refreshing to have new faces. Not that the merry band I've gathered isn't unwelcoming. It's just good to know we're not the last ones standing. _

_Ferran had gathered Jonas, Brooks and Tim for a supply run. We've been running awfully low since our last run in with a pack of feral prowlers, the dog like creatures certainly didn't change since I first came face to face with one all those years ago. I swear sometimes the things are tracking us down deliberately. _

_We've had to jump from fox-hole to fox-hole a lot more frequently in the past month. Something must be really pissing the demons off in that case, probably the angels again. _

_In the past eight years I've only had barely a handful of visions and only one of them is making sense to me. A tree, Colossal in scope, reaching up further than most skyscrapers and probably broader than then one too. It's leaves spanning miles out and it's roots buried deep into the surrounding buildings and earth alike. people living within, and giants too, but as far as I can gather that's the place I've heard rumors of. "Haven" it's supposedly meant to live up to its namesake and be a haven for humans, a place safe and away from demons. I hope it truly is, else we've all been following a false dream._

"Dawn! Dawn! Ferran is back!" the sound of Megan's chipper voice gave enough motivation to end the journal there. Clapping the book shut and tucking the pencil between its pages only to haphazardly toss it into the bedroll on my journey to the opening that was the long abandoned subway station making sure to grab my bow on the way out. True to small brunette's word, Ferran, Jonas, Brooks and Tim we're back.

"Find anything?" Margaret asked, standing up from the subway's old metal seats to greet the hunting party. Given Margaret's age - being sixty-six - meant that she wasn't as 'well oiled' and the rest of us. Herself, Remus and Megan would always stay behind, only ever moving with us when we had to find a new place to stay for a while. Lindsay and Tim quite often stayed back to assure the three would be fine, despite Remus' protests.

"We got Lucky" Came Ferran's reply, the black hair man sported shoulder length hair, often placed into a ponytail to avoid getting into his grey eyes. He was once a prominent lawyer serving cases to clear innocent names. Now, he had become a survivor, but old habits die hard, and in this case it came in the fashion of the regal manner he tended to hold himself in.

"Ya, them pigeons managed to draw 'em demons away right as we got to ahn old 'mart" Brook piped in, her accent thick as ever despite the years. brown hair in a sort of rugged pixie cut fell out as she pulled back the battered old baseball cap she'd been wearing. She wiped the sweat from her brow before sending myself a big grin, green eyes shining and all. She was a farmer's daughter in town for one rare occasion to get certain supplies when the battle took place."Serves 'em sucker's right. Hope 'em angel's have dull blades, eh." she nudged Jonas with her elbow.

"I'm just glad we made it back in one piece." Jonas sighed. He was probably the largest out of us all. He was full of muscles which certainly came in handy when something particularly heavy was in the way. Short cut black hair and a beard to match and a set of deep hazel eyes to pull off that 'Rugged handsome' look Margaret had named. He was from New Zealand, overseas for a holiday, and was swept away with the mess. "Can't say the same to those demon's back there. Though, i doubt our luck will hold forever."

"Agreed." was Tim's short answer, he was a small man, blue eyes blonde hair and from a military background. He was on leave, fresh from the last mission. Didn't even get time to sit down apparently when everything hit the fan.

"Have we got enough supplies to reach our next checkpoint?" Finally working my way up towards Ferran and setting my bow down to rest against the wall i turned to face the group, spotting Remus and Lindsay slowly making their way up to the group.

"That and a little extra," Ferran replied, scrounging through the backpack, probably making a quick inventory check.

"Managed to get me hands on sum' medical supplies too!" Brooks piped up, tossing me a small first-Aid kit to stash away, knowing that I had a vast knowledge in first-aid.

"Fantastic, then we should pack and make a move on now." Leaning back down to grab my bow and fasten the first-aid kit to my belt for quick access. Tilting my head up only when Tim spoke.

"It's probably best we head now, 'specially with all that commotion those angel's have stirred up. Slip out while the demon's are preoccupied," Tim nodded, already on his way to his pack, it being already packed and primed to go. We were all fast to learn that being unprepared for a quick move can be disastrous, nowhere is ever really _'Safe'_.

"Alright people, grab your packs and bedrolls, we move out in five." Nodding my head at the small group of survivors I trotted off to the small area where my bedroll and pack were housed. Making a quick inventory check to make sure nothing was left behind, pleased to note I had 38 arrows in the quiver and 16 to spare, strapped onto the outside of my pack.

Throwing the backpack over my shoulders and adjusting the straps of my quiver to sit more securely I set off to the entrance, please to see almost everyone, save Lindsay, Megan and Remus was there. The mother and daughter always last to pack up, most that was left was sometimes mundane stuff, not that it bothers the rest of us.

"Alright, sorry! We're ready" Lindsay's soft voice echoed from down the hallway where the side office sat across from the subways tracks. The mother was admin to a growing furniture company with little to none survival skills, if Remus hadn't have found them that day, they most probably wouldn't have made it this far. The three jogged up to the rest and together we set out.

Taking the lead I scouted ahead. Just as Tim had said there wasn't a demon in sight, too busy being drawn off by the angels. Climbing up the scaffolding of a half built building i was able to gain a vantage point, as far as i could tell the path was clear until it passed out of sight. Hopping back down i waved the rest to follow. Tim and Jonas took the front, while Margaret, Megan, Brooks and Lindsay were in the middle. Ferran and Remus took the rear. Most using ramshackle weapons, old swords, mechetes, pipes, Remus sported a double barreled shotgun while Tim had his military issue M-16 with a silencer attachment, the two only using them in a direct firefight, as to not waste ammunition and alert nearby presence to our location. That was most probably why I had somehow became the scout, using the bow didn't require a silencer.

Most of the journey was uneventful, that's probably the reason we were far more on edge then normal. The atmosphere around the group was tense, any sound would have them spinning around, eyes wild and weapons primed.

"I don't like this one bit." Remus grumped quietly, the old hunter's face scrunched up in a scowl. "Listen, not a single noise besides our footsteps, no tweet of birds or hum of insects. Hell even the sound of a demon in the distance would be more comforting than this deafening silence."

"It _is_ the apocalypse, not surprised there isn't much sound around here" Ferran waved Remus off. "You're probably just overreacting, old man."

"The day I _'overreact'_ is the day I die boy, I've been been huntin' before you could even walk, and I know this ain't _natural_ but something _big _had to have scared even those demons into silence." Remus snapped back, shooting Ferran a heated glare.

"Whatever it is, Remus has a point. Something has gotten even those demons to be quiet, so I would suggest we all quieten down before whatever had those demons scared comes after _us_" silence once again took over the group at my authoritative voice, deciding now is best to find a vantage point I took to scaling one of the older run down buildings, the window seals being compacted close together making it easier to climb up.

Hauling myself up the final stretch and sneaking closer to the edge I was present with a rather disturbing view. Angel bodies littered the streets below, flies buzzing above signaling whatever transpired here had long since passed, a clear path was carved out in the direction the creature which had caused this had gone.

By the looks of it, it must have been an angel patrol, _perhaps the ones that had caused the distraction in the first place?_

The next problem that presented itself however was the direction in which the breast had taken. It was the exact direction in which we had to travel_. _If we continued in this directions we'd undoubtedly come face to face with it, and that would be disastrous at best. I turned climbing back down to meet the group.

"I've got good news and bad news." my announcement sparked both curiosity and worry from the fellow survivors before me.

"What's the good news?" Ferran asked, walking up to meet me at the front of the pack. His hands fiddling with his mechete in anxiousness.

"Whatever got those demons to be quiet is definitely gone by the looks of it." moving my weight from one foot to the other to try to rid myself of the growing uncomfortable feeling, I looked up over to Remus who had a look on his face like he was going to ask something.

"How can you be sure?" The elder man questioned, his gruff voice could be quite easily mistaken as one of accusation but after spending a short amount of time with the man it came apparent that it was quite frankly, the way he spoke.

"If the bloody mess of angels is anything to go by, then it's moved on to find other prey." despite my best efforts I couldn't help the grim expression that crossed my face. "Unfortunately that's where the good news ends. By the trails of its victims, whatever caused all that destruction is heading the exact same direction we are, meaning that we're going to have to pass through thicker demon territory to get to checkpoint B instead."

"We can't just, sneak by it?" Ferran asked perplexed. Himself and others weren't too keen on passing through thicker demon territory to get to checkpoint B and understandably so.

"Nine people trying to sneak passed a predator that wiped out n' angel patrol? Ferran do you even have a brain? Ah of course not, _damn lawyers_." Remus waved Ferran off, scowl still in place. The elder man never liked Ferran, something about _'not trustin' lawyers'. _

"Alright so, we can't sneak past that thing, we have to pass by demon territory, the last thing we need is to be at each other's throats. Lets just all take a deep breath and calm down." Jonas, ever the sweetheart managed to calm the two fiery men down. His free hand resting on Remus' shoulder to help settle the old hunter down while giving Ferran a warning look.

"Dawn, are you sure there isn't another way?" Lindsay almost begged, the mother grabbed onto the sleeve of my jacket, eyes pleading. I couldn't help the pang of guilt that hit my heart.

"I'm sorry Lindsay, if there was an other way I would choose it in a heartbeat. But it's our only option. We can at least stand a chance against demons." placing a free hand onto the mother shoulder to give it a squeeze and lock eyes with hers. "We'll get there, I _promise_."

Lindsay nodded her head, too fearful to express it out loud. Letting go and walking across to Megan and wrapping her arms around the young teenager, whispering assurance to the little brunette. Remus, noticing Lindsay and Megan's fear seemed to calm him down almost immediately, the elder man walking over to the two, giving the mother a squeeze and Megan a quiet encouraging talk.

"We should give them some space. Let them gather their courage." Jonas suggested, pulling a rather impatient looking Ferran with him. Tim grunted his acknowledgement and trailed after the two others.

Letting out a deep sigh I turned my gaze heavenward taking peace in the graying sky. "It's going to rain soon" Margaret's soft voice reached my ears.

"Yeah…" bringing my arms up to rest across my chest and finally breaking my gaze from the sky, I turned to Margaret. "How... are you holding up?"

"Me?" Margaret almost laughed. "You've taken to lead this small band of survivors and managed to keep my self alive, and you ask _me_ how I'm holding up?" reaching across she placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, eyes as tender as a loving mother. "I should be asking _you_ that…" she Whispered, pride evident in her voice.

A wave of emotions flooded me, threatening to take control but I wouldn't -couldn't- let them, I Only managed to only give the elder woman a sad smile. "I'm.. Okay,"

Sighing and shaking her head Margaret replied "Dawn, you're going to end up self-destructing if you don't let others help you." She reach up and placed her hand on my cheek, continuing. "Please, at least let your old foster mother take care of you."

"So… finally admitting your old now?" Tentative and quiet, it lacked all my usual snark. It'd been a long time -too long- since I had teased her with that line. The corners of her mouth peeked up, the smile of fond memories. She shook her head and allowed a small chuckle to escape her.

"Yes, I suppose I am" silence crossed over us, unlike our usual comfortable silences, something heavy weight in the air. We both knew that it'd be a long shot, for her to reach haven. It hung in the space between us, unspoken of. Too afraid to say it, in case it becomes reality. Instead, we smiled at each other, hugged and said nothing. I suppose nothing _needs_ to be said, we both already know, but god help me if I won't try to get her there safe.


End file.
